And Jurgen Klopp described his performance in helping Liverpool to the final of the Europa League as ‘outstanding’ and labelled him ‘an unbelievable player’.

However, he has not always seemed as wildly enthusiastic, also leaving the England striker - who will be named in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad on Thursday - on the bench for both legs of the quarter-final win against Borussia Dortmund.

The Arsenal manager saw his men fade in their bid to win the Premier League this season.

Even more frustrating was that Arsenal beat the newly crowned champions Leicester TWICE – only to fall away in alarming fashion.

Victory at the Etihad against Manchester City on Sunday will keep alive hopes of finishing runners-up to Leicester. But Wenger admitted: “It hurts”.

Tough guy: Wenger says he will get Arsenal to toughen up (Image: David Price)

And he is in no doubt what is a major factor behind Arsenal’s failure in the league.

“We have to add something defensively as a team,” Wenger said. “We need to be more ruthless.”

Wenger pointed to the recent 3-3 draw at West Ham to illustrate his point. Arsenal were 2-0 up, then 3-2 down and eventually came away with a draw. Arsenal were bullied into submission by the physical presence of Andy Carroll.

“Once you are two-up at West Ham and you finish 3-3 you question the team defensively,” Wenger said.